WAUKESHA, WIS.— On Tuesday, March 12, 2013, two professional actors will portray six historical women of science in “Portraits of Courage” at Carroll University. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in the Dorothy Goff Frisch Recital Hall of Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave., Waukesha. This event is free and open to the public.

“Portraits of Courage: Women in Science” is written from historical facts; the characters and their experiences are real. The presentation will highlight the lives of several women who have made significant contributions to various scientific fields.

Elizabeth Blackwell, physician: the first woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S., a social reformist for female education and founder of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. This was the first American hospital to employ female physicians.

Margaret Sanger, nurse: founder of Planned Parenthood in response to the deaths and suffering caused by self-induced abortions. Her work has changed laws and the education system on the topic of contraception.

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, aviator: learned to speak French and earned her pilot's license in France because African Americans were not accepted into U.S. schools. She was the first female pilot of African American descent and the first person of African American descent to hold an international pilot license.

Chien-Shiung Wu, physicist: a Chinese-American who worked on the Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bomb. She also developed the Standard Model, which is the theory that describes what holds the world together.

Helen Rodriguez-Trias, public health activist: earned her medical degree and established the first center for the care of newborns in Puerto Rico, decreasing the infant death rate by 50 percent. She also expanded public health services offered to Puerto Rican women after they were sterilized without consent.

Everywoman: compares the 1960s woman to the modern woman and how body image has changed. Also addresses the amount of women who actually achieve the “perfect” body image.

This event is presented by Carroll’s Latin American Student Organization. It will include a post-show discussion with the actors and artistic director, Colin Cox, of Will & Company, a touring troupe based in Los Angeles.

For more information, contact Elena De Costa, associate professor of Spanish, at 262.524.7284 or edecosta@carrollu.edu.